A Slice of Rebellion

at the breakfast table yesterday.

"mum, did you know we can't drink milk straight from a cow?  it's bad for you!"

who sais that?

"it's what we are learning at school.  they have to do something to it to make it OK for us to drink."

well, hon.  mum and dad don't actually agree with that.  we think that raw, natural milk the way God created it is good for you.  <sigh> sometimes mum and dad won't agree with what the school teaches .... but that's ok .... it's about you learning and appreciating many different ways to look at things .... and on this one, mum and dad disagree with the government.  and rest assured ... if we lived on a farm and had a dairy cow .... we would drink raw milk.

blank look and open mouth from kiddo in question ..... 

(secretly i am smiling, btw ... had to come to this one day!)

oh my goodness!  what has happened to me!  i've been reading this book everything i want to do is illegal, by Joel Salatin (book review to come soon .... promise!)  and suddenly i find myself free, even LIBERATED to ask ....

why would the government know what is better for me and my family than i do?

woman!  what has happened to you!

ok ... first, the argument, then the big picture perspective.

why drink pasturised milk?  the government says,  that raw milk can harbour dangerous micro-organisms that can pose serious health risks to you and your family (off the US FDA web site).  so?  that's a pretty weak argument!  tell me there aren't a plethora of other risks that you and i take each day just by walking out the door.  good grief!

so why does the government pick on these?

it's because the Monsanto's, Nestle's and large multinationals of today have the poli's in their back pockets.  doesn't matter if they are labour or liberal, democrat or republic, greenie or whatever ..... the poli's do what the big guys tell them to do .... because they are out for one thing:  to line their own corporate pockets.

before you call me a negative nelly .... i dare you to tell me that fracking for natural gas is healthy and ok.  that having your drinking water catch on fire because of the gas content is ok .... and the reason it has that gas content is because of the leakage of natural gas from fracking.  good for you and me?  no.  good for the big guys?  oh yeah!  we need to find sustainable ways of enjoying this amazing world .... not destroying it simple to make the fat cats fatter!

and i won't even consider arguing with you until you have sat and seriously watched three movies.  Food, Inc., Fresh and Gasland.  you won't like them .... i certainly found them challenging .... but necessary for my families health.  don't you want that?

in his book, salatin makes a comment about the inability to enjoy raw milk.  he conjures an image of the "olden" days when you could have farm fresh cream butter or ice cream ... and the joy and delight that those products held.   they are raw .... natural .... hey .... THE WAY GOD INTENDED IT TO BE!

but that is not what the big corporates would have you believe.  they are the gods .... they determine what you and i eat, drink and enjoy .... and have us believing that it is in our best interest ..... all to line their own pockets!

.... my little slice of rebellion for the day.....

freedom to choose

i have started reading Everything I Want to Do is Illegal, by joel salatin.  review to come, but in the meantime, it has me thinking, again, about the control that the industry has over so much of what we do.  yeah, they SAY it is in our best interest.  but honestly .... we know the lobby for the big business is very strong and very powerful .... do you really think that controlling so much of our day-to-day lives is really in our best interest?

what would bless my socks off would be for people to take the time to educate themselves to the issues at hand.  why do we so often take the easy out and just assume that it's ok for the government to control our lives and choose what we put on our tables each day?  just take the time to watch Food, Inc. or Gasland and you will understand that it is the big business lobby that is in it for their own interests and gain.  and they are happy for you to not think and not use your brain to make your own best decisions for your family.

here in australia ......

• the CSIRO is apparently getting into bed and doing a food trial with GM food manufactures and wants to grow it here in Australia .... even thought most of the developed world is against it!  (including the US and Canada)  http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/news/food/GM-wheat-scandal/
• Australian mining companies are participating in unsafe fracking .... near water supplies!  SMH Article on Mining Practices.  

joel salatin makes the point very early on in his book that the government is out to make you think that everyone wants to give you a raw deal.  that they will use unsafe standards or contaminated materials to make their goods with.  what would happen if we chose to have the opposite perspective.  that our neighbor farmer or producer is just out to grow goods and sell them.  to make some great creamy ice cream, home made jams or breads.  what if we believed in that and supported it rather than regulating it out of existence?

i know that i am feeling the affects of this quite directly.  we want for me to be able to stay at home and be there when our kids are growing.  this means i need to try and develop an income generator from home.  what better than playing off the things i love?  cooking and fresh produce!  value adding to what we grow so that we have yummy preserved and canned goods .... to sell and share with our community.  it's a win win!  i can stay home for my kids and local buyers get yummy food.  alas, the regulations are so tight here that i am unable to cook in my own kitchen because it's not a commercial kitchen!  they assume i am out to do the wrong thing ... to hurt people, or earn a cheap dollar. it's really wrong!  it's denying me the right to earn a living through what i do and for people to enjoy delectably yummy and good food that is .... egad .... healthy!

we need to fight this mentality.  people are so lethargic when it comes to what we put in our bodies.  don't wewant to eat healthy good food?  stuff that will give us energy and nutrients rather than filling us with empty calories? we need to fight this because we should have the freedom to decide what is best for our families.  we need to fight this way of thinking because it is our right to live free and enjoy the foods we want!

make a difference.  by local.  shop at your are market, not the large chain grocery stores.  go to a butcher to buy your meat .... ask if it is grain or grass fed (you always want grass!).  if you see a road side stall .... stop and buy their produce!  it may not be as pretty as the stuff in the large grocery stores .... but i bet it tastes better!

and the most important way we can make a difference is to think.  if we come across a regulation that is inhibiting our freedom .... question it.  talk to your local poli ... find out the rationale behind it.  is there a large multi-national behind it?  can almost guarantee that regulation will assist them!  use your freedom of expression and thinking to understand and make an educated choice .... not an easy or convenient choice .... but an educated choice!